Royal Caribbean International
Mariner of the Seas Cruise Review
Western Caribbean

Gerald McDonald
Age: 41
Occupation: Supply Chain Supervisor
Number of Cruises: 7
Sailing Date: August 6th, 2006

Boarding: Kudos,  to the Port of Galveston. After experiencing Port Canaveral for the first time Galveston you should be proud! My family and I arrived at the terminal around 11:30-11:45. I dropped the family and the luggage off and proceeded to drop off the rented car at Avis. Much to my dismay the family was still standing outside in the hot Florida heat awaiting my arrival only to find what seemed like a quarter mile long line of people. This is where we noticed the difference between Galveston and Port Canaveral. Galveston’s terminal is large enough that while standing in line to pass through security you are free from the elements of standing outside. Once inside screening and check in went pretty well.

Ship: What a marvelous vessel this is. Mariner of the Seas was the most beautiful ship we have ever been on and our first Voyage class ship to cruise. (Note: Voyager of the Seas is coming to Galveston in 2008 and we are already booked for a spring break cruise). Mariner has a lot of Asian influence in the décor and furnishings throughout the ship.

Food: This being my fourth RCCL Cruise I pretty much knew what to expect as far as the food was concerned. The typical cruise fare lobster, prime rib, escargot and plenty of fresh fish choices always await you on RCCL. I was most disappointed in the Windjammer and Jade. Typically on other RCCL ships the Windjammer is pretty decent. Johnny Rockets was great and we really enjoyed getting an old fashioned greasy spoon burger throughout the trip. Did not try Chops Grille or Portofino’s.

Service: Our waiter and assistant waiter were really attentive but not overly intrusive of the table conversation throughout the week. We had Main seating in the Sound of Music dining room. Only seen the Head waiter on lobster night when he came by the table to take the tail from the shell.

Stateroom Attendant: Rubi was her name; we roomed on the 7th floor. Rubi did what was expected but we felt rushed to get out of the room as she was always out in the hallway dying to clean the room in the morning and then would be dying to get back in there as we were hurrying around to get to dinner by 6:00. Nothing major but have had better stateroom attendants in the past.

Cruise Director: Becky Thompson was her name and she was by far the best director we have ever had. 'Good day Love' was her favorite expression.

Entertainment: By far the two best shows were the Beatles tribute performed by Revolution and the International Ice Skating Show “Circus”. The RCCL singers and dancers were average have seen better shows in the past but were ok. Comedians were pretty good however can’t remember their names.

Overall: I highly recommend this ship Mariner of the Seas. The Royal Promenade and the nightly parades were Disney quality. Best cruise ever!




 

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